Want a COVID-19 vaccine? Now you can walk in to these Wake County locations.
Wake County is now offering drive-up and walk-in COVID-19 vaccinations at four locations.
“These sites help us reach more people in the communities where they live, and the walk-in option provides a measure of convenience for people who have challenges with scheduling or who may decide on a whim that this is the day they want to get vaccinated,” said Dr. Kim McDonald, the county’s public health director, in a news release Monday.
COVID-19 vaccines remain free, and while appointments are encouraged for first shots, they are not required.
The Pfizer vaccine, the only one approved for 16- and 17-year-olds so far, will be available at two county locations.
The Wake County Public Health Center, 10 Sunnybrook Road in Raleigh, will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Mondays and Fridays; 12:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays; and 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturdays.
The Pfizer vaccine will also be available at the Wake County Human Services Center, 5809 Departure Drive in Raleigh, from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays.
The Wake County Northern Regional Center, 350 E. Holding Ave. in Wake Forest, will have the same hours as the Sunnybrook Road site, but it will offer the Moderna vaccine.
Anyone who gets the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine will need to return for a second dose for full protection against COVID-19.
The one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine will be available from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 6-7 at Green Road Park, 4201 Green Road in Raleigh.
Upcoming vaccine program changes
The county health department will soon offer vaccines elsewhere in the county, too.
▪ The Wake County Southern Regional Center, 130 N. Judd Parkway NE in Fuquay-Varina, will start offering vaccines next week.
▪ The Eastern Regional Center, 1002 Dogwood Drive in Zebulon, will start offering vaccines the week of May 24.
“We’re bringing it to the community near you, so convenient that you can actually walk from your house,” county spokesperson Stacy Beard told the Wake County commissioners Monday evening.
The first person who came to the Wake Forest site had walked from his house, Beard added, drawing praise Monday night from Wake County Commissioner Shinica Thomas, who represents the district.
Mass-vaccination sites closing
Wake County will close its mass-vaccination sites later this month, with the PNC Arena drive-through site’s last day coming May 12 and the Wake County Commons mass-vaccination site closing May 22.
Other changes to the vaccine program include reducing the questions during vaccine registration from 14 to four, with questions designed to help direct people looking for a vaccine toward the right option.
For instance, one question will ask people if they would like a second vaccine dose. Those who answer “no” will be directed to the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
Vaccination registration forms in languages other than English had originally been translated by a computer, Beard said. But the county has now had native speakers translate them in 10 languages, including Spanish, French and Vietnamese.
Maria Cervania, a commissioner who has called for the translations, said, “I’ve heard so much in the community for the need and for how there’s a bridge that needed to happen when it came to really actually translating it.”
Cervania added that she has looked through the translations and that they looked “so great.”
Nearly 1 in 3 Wake County adults fully vaccinated
As of Monday, 38.3% of the people in Wake County have received at least one dose of vaccine, while 31.9% are fully vaccinated, according to data from the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.
During Monday’s presentation, Wake County officials said 49.6% of the county’s total population has been at least partially vaccinated, while 63.8% of adults have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine shot. Data reported to DHHS can lag by as much as three days.
“We’re on track to vaccinate over two-thirds of our population,” said Ryan Jury, the county’s vaccination branch director.
Other efforts in Wake County include offering vaccines with smaller, mobile clinics like one that took place Monday at Trophy Brewing and offering citizens’ academy-type programs focused on answering questions about the COVID-19 vaccine.
Gov. Roy Cooper has said he intends to lift the state’s mask mandate once two-thirds of adults have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
“I am so happy that our staff — that we want to do more, because to really actually achieve herd immunity we really need to be aiming for 75 or 80%. That’s the reality,” Cervania said.
For more information about vaccinations in Wake County, go to www.WakeGov.com/vaccine or call 919-250-1515.
This story was originally published May 3, 2021 at 6:17 PM.